[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Saint Maud (2019)

Unsettling and ambiguous are two words that describe director Rose Glass' debut feature Saint Maud.

It's a psychological slow burner that tells the story of a young woman, Maud (Morfydd Clark) who gives up on her former promiscuous life, finds God and becomes a palliative care nurse. When she is assigned to look after a former dancer from the US (Jennifer Ehle) she sees something of her old self in her and vows to save her soul before she dies.

I know this probably doesn't sound like the most enthralling idea for a horror film but under the assured direction of Glass and a superb performance from Clark it's utterly gripping. Saint Maud is probably a religious tale of redemption and extreme Catholic beliefs instead of a straight forward middle of the road horror film and it's all the better for it.

Clark brings a sense of joy as well as sheer despair to her role and the more unstable she becomes the more engrossing her performance is as she goes from softly spoken nurse to obsessed fanatic as her mental health disintegrates into disturbing spiritual ecstasy.

Saint Maud is no feel good film. It's gloomy as hell and it's Scarborough setting of creaking apartments and the even more hellish sea front amusement arcades brings so much to the desperation of the film, much like Hastings did in the equally excellent Byzantium (2012).

The languid pacing of the film makes the shocks when they come even harder to watch. The sex on show is degrading rather than erotic whilst the horror and violence bring real gut punches. I'd love to mention the 'F*ck Me!' final scene but won't. Spoilers are not fun for those like me who hadn't seen this before.

Although fairly straightforward in it's narrative there's a real ambiguity about Maud and what happens and has happened to her. Her former life is hinted at but we never see it whilst her new religious zest for living is more than likely simply in her head as is the possible possession of Ehle's dancer.

Come the end of my regular Christmas new to me horror marathon there's a good chance Saint Maud will be the best film i watch, perhaps not the most entertaining or fun but probably the best.

Watched via the Studio Canal dvd which looked good despite the Scarborough gloom.